On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early elementary school: The role of problem-solving strategies

On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early elementary school: The role of problem-solving strategies

Click the buttons to download the infographic and transcript!

Title:

• On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early elementary school: The role of problem-solving strategies.

Authors:

• Gerardo Ramirez, Hyesang Chang, Erin A. Maloney, Susan C. Levine, and Sian L. Beilock (2016).

Journal and DOI:

• Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 141, 83–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.07.014

What do we know? We know that math anxiety (fear or apprehension about math) is associated with poor performance on math problems.

What did we ask?

1. Does math anxiety affect a student’s problem-solving strategy (e.g., finger counting)?
2. Does math anxiety have a greater impact on children with high working memory capacity (the ability to remember small amounts of information and rapidly retrieve it)?

How did we ask it? Participants (N=256 first graders and N=308 second graders) were assessed on the following measures:

1. math anxiety,
2. working memory capacity,
3. math achievement, and
4. problem-solving strategies.

What did we find? Highly math anxious children with high working memory capacity tend to avoid using advanced memory-based strategies (e.g., decomposition and retrieval). Instead, they resort to simple problem-solving strategies (e.g., finger counting) which do not provide a solid foundation for complex math problems. Essentially, math anxiety turns a strength of these students (high working memory capacity) into a weakness.

Why is this important?

• It is essential for children to cope with their math anxiety and utilize various problem-solving strategies, even if they do not feel completely comfortable with them yet. The ability to use different problem-solving strategies is integral in solving complex math problems.
• Educators should provide students with ways to manage math anxiety and encourage them to solve problems through various strategies.

Brought to you by Dr. Erin Maloney’s Cognition and Emotion Lab at the University of Ottawa.